A multi-disciplinary research and educational initiative whose goal is to research, develop, deploy and evaluate technology and analytically-based solutions to improve the quality of life and economies of metropolitan areas.

Mapping America’s Mountains of Garbage

Ever wonder how much trash the U.S. collects in landfills?

CityLab: Widely considered to be the first sanitary landfill in the U.S., the Fresno garbage dump, which opened in 1937, has the dubious distinction of being named to both the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and the nation’s list of Superfund sites. That’s a funny pair of categories to straddle, but it illustrates an important point: Trash is a starring character in the American story, even as we continue to wrestle with its consequences.